"Solve more than one challenge..."

Like many sporting events over the last year, the NetGirls Zambia league did not shoot any balls into village hoops for points and there was no league champion. While this is an unfortunate consequence of the pandemic, all was not lost! True to the aim of the program – “to empower and improve the lives of girls by providing opportunity for growth” – the team was able to pivot into other beneficial projects for women and girls.

In November 2020, NetGirls embarked on a four-month project directed by the four Zone Managers, Edith, Christine, Ruth and Dorothy, who implemented various projects in their respective zones. With a target of 500 beneficiaries each and the materials provided, they lead workshops teaching women how to create face masks and reusable menstrual pads, provided trees for an environmental project, and worked on a clean stove distribution program.

The Zone Managers opened each workshop sensitizing participants about COVID-19 and encouraging regular mask-wearing, while showing how to sew them. In all, NetGirls helped produce 2,800 masks in their workshops, and countless afterwards as women now how the skills to create their own. Female personal hygiene was also addressed in the reusable pad-making workshops where more than 2,600 pads were constructed. Girls will often miss school if they do not have access to feminine hygiene products. The reusable pads they made are washable and will likely last a few years, which gives peace of mind and saves money!

Clean cooking stoves reduce the amount of smoke that women inhale and have added benefits to the environment. We were able to secure these eco-friendly cooking stoves for all the communities the NetGirls projects took place in! We also thought that we could pair the stoves with a tree-planting project. There has been a lot of encouragement by environmental organisations in the area to create living fences around fields to keep livestock safe, and trees help slow soil erosion too. Approximately 1,500 trees were planted with the leadership of the NetGirls Zone Managers; the majority were gliricidia, a fast growing tree that is known to improve soil fertility.

The NetGirls projects were so loved by the communities! The Zone Managers engaged the headmen/woman, community leaders, clubs leaders and women sports captains in their communities, which lead to successful sensitizations and a great COVID-19 season!

“We appreciate Impact Network for coming up with good projects that have greater impact in people’s lives especially in girls and women lives. These kind of projects solve more than one challenge women and girls face every day. The projects also help solve challenges families and communities face.” – NetGirls Zambia Zone Manager, Christine

“We really loved the project and wished it never ended. We would also love to see these kind of projects being extended to other communities in Katete for more girls and women to benefit as well.” – NetGirls Zambia Zone Manager, Ruth

To learn more, visit: www.impactnetwork.org/impact-girls

-Elida